New Delhi, July 15 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won control of 10 of the 12 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Ward Committees in elections held on Wednesday, significantly strengthening its position ahead of the formation of the corporation's influential Standing Committee. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secured victories in only two zones Rohini and Karol Bagh.

Several BJP candidates were elected unopposed. In Najafgarh Zone, Jaivir Singh Rana was elected Chairman, Sushma Rathee Deputy Chairman, and Shashi Yadav Member of the Standing Committee. Keshav Puram also witnessed an uncontested BJP sweep with Vineet Vohra, Meenu Goel and Sushil elected to the three posts. Similarly, Central Zone elected Neetu, Praveen Kumar and Hem Chand Goel unopposed, while Narela saw Janta Devi, Dinesh Kumar and Pawan Kumar secure the three positions, with the latter two elected unopposed.

The BJP also retained South Zone, where Dharamvir Singh and Mamta Yadav defeated AAP candidates by 12 votes to 10. The result sparked allegations of cross-voting, as the zone has an equal strength of BJP and AAP councillors along with two Congress councillors. Shahdara North elected Pankaj Luthra as Chairman and Brijesh Singh as Deputy Chairman with a 20-12 margin, while Shahdara South elected Yashpal Singh as Chairman (18-6), with Raju Sachdeva and Munesh elected unopposed as Deputy Chairman and Standing Committee member, respectively.

In Civil Lines, Gulab Singh defeated the AAP candidate 11-8, while nominated member Sanjay Tyagi won the Deputy Chairman's post after securing 11 votes. Usha Sharma won the Chairperson's election in City-SP Zone by 7-5, while AAP's Shamim Bano was elected Deputy Chairperson unopposed. In West Zone, BJP's Harish Oberoi won the Chairmanship 14-11, but AAP's Dimple Ahuja secured the Deputy Chairperson's post by 13-12.

AAP retained Rohini, where Pushpa and Ramesh Chand won by 12-11, and Karol Bagh, where Alka Dhingra, Kavita Chauhan and Rajan Arora were elected unopposed. The outcome gives the BJP a decisive advantage in the process of constituting the MCD Standing Committee, one of the civic body's most powerful decision-making panels.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.